Former Cape League VP Tullie remembered fondly

Friday

This past summer’s Cape Cod Baseball League championship would’ve looked dramatically different if not for Don Tullie.

Tullie, a former Yarmouth police officer who died Thursday at age 75 at his Yarmouth Port home, served on the expansion committee that brought the Bourne Braves and Brewster Whitecaps into the league in 1988. Fittingly, Brewster defeated Bourne for the league title in 2017.

Increasing the number of teams was just one of the many ways Tullie impacted the league during his decades of involvement, first as a general manager of the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox and then as a vice president in the league itself.

“He was just a tremendous, tremendous person,” said CCBL president Chuck Sturtevant, who worked with Tullie on that same expansion committee. “He would do anything for anyone. He loved the league, he loved baseball, he loved the Y-D Red Sox, and he really took it to heart.”

Sturtevant knew and worked with Tullie for 25 years. Tullie left the league in 2001 but remained a presence in the league, even just as a fan in the stands.

“I used to see him at a lot of games, even this past year,” Sturtevant said. “I was trying to convince him to come back, maybe even as an advisor.”

Former president Judy Scarafile described Tullie as an “idea man” who had, “Some of the coolest, most unique ideas that I’d heard of in many years.” But he was also a “work horse” when it came to implementing his events and ideas.

“You would’ve thought he was a 25-year-old kid with his energy level,” Scarafile said. “I worked with Don for a long, long time, and it’s a tremendous loss to the Cape League and to the community.

“I have just wonderful, fond memories of working with Don, and what a gift he gave to the Cape League.”

Tullie, who became a Cape League VP in 1990, was heavily involved in the league’s annual All-Star Game. He helped implement the Yawkey Foundation Field Improvement Grant, produced league events at Fenway Park in Boston and helped bring international teams to the Cape for a World Baseball Tournament.

“He was great with the sponsors,” said Gary Ellis, an architect in Yarmouth Port who often worked with Tullie. “He had a natural ability, I would say, as an event coordinator.”

Ellis and Tullie became friends through their years of working together. They met for breakfast every couple of weeks and were planning to do so again this Saturday.

“He was an old-time baseball guy,” Ellis said.

Tullie’s involvement with the Y-D Red Sox began in the 1970s. He’d eventually become the general manager, helping Y-D win its first league title in 1989.

“He was an extremely sensitive guy who understood the big picture of how the Cape Cod Baseball League impacts not only the players but the community at large,” CCBL treasurer Steve Wilson said. “He’d literally give you the shirt off his back.”

Tullie was also a Patrol Officer and Firearms Unit Instructor in the Yarmouth Police Department from 1975-84. His commendations included three Lifesaving medals and the medal for honorable service.

“All of the men and women of the Yarmouth Police Department, past and present, offer our deepest condolences to the Tullie Family, including his loving wife and children,” YPD Deputy Chief of Police Steven Xiarhos said in a statement. “Thank you, Don, for your service to your community and your fellow Officers.”

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